Accident, Suicide, or Murder is investigating the death of Jeffrey Sean Gebhardt, a hunter from Blairsville, Georgia, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a remote area of Clarks Hill Wildlife Management Area in Wilkes County.
In September 2012, two days after 35-year-old Gebhardt was found dead, the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office declared his death a homicide. However, no arrests were ever made, and eleven months later, a grand jury concluded that his injuries were likely self-inflicted. The case was closed pending the emergence of new evidence.
Gebhardt was one of 286 hunters attending a three-day deer hunting event at the park when his friend David Charles Smith reported him missing on the night of September 22.
Earlier in the evening, Gebhardt phoned his friend, explaining that he was lost and needed help. He said he was in an area with long grass. Smith and a few other hunters searched for him for about an hour, and after failing to find anything, they became extremely concerned for his welfare.
Police officers spent hours driving up and down the many roads that traverse the wildlife park, blaring their sirens and honking their horns. They hoped the noise would be overheard by Gebhardt, allowing him to draw the attention of the rescuers to himself.
The cops concluded that there was only one area with long grass in the park, so they decided to focus on that patch of land. They searched through the night, becoming increasingly concerned that Gebhardt was injured.
Jeffrey Gebhardt found lying dead in the long grass
At one point, the State Police brought in a helicopter with thermal imaging, which finally located Gebhardt lying in the long grass on mudflats near a lake. He was soon pronounced dead.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelAn autopsy ruled that he had died from multiple stab wounds. State Medical Examiner Daniel Brown wrote that Gebhardt had suffered “a cluster of no less than 17 sharp force injuries on the chest.”
Thirteen of the wounds were superficial, but three had penetrated his heart, and another went deep into his abdomen.
Jeffrey Gebhardt death was ruled a suicide
The cops initially ruled the case a homicide, but after an investigation found that there were no footprints or any signs of another individual being in the area, it was concluded that Gebhardt had killed himself. Medical Examiner Brown subsequently ruled the case a suicide.
Gebhardt’s family and friends have always expressed their doubts that he committed suicide and have argued that he was excited about returning to school at North Georgia College. There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system.
Accident, Suicide, or Murder airs Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.